Israeli strikes kill 8 in Lebanon, day after Trump tells Tel Aviv Hezbollah agrees to cut fighting | Today’s news

Tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate as the Israeli military launched drone strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday (local time), killing at least eight people, including a father and his two children.

The development came after Tel Aviv reported overnight attacks by Hezbollah on Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon and civilians in Israel. On Monday, Israel threatened to strike the suburbs of Beirut, sparking panic in the Lebanese capital as thousands fled. According to reports, Israeli forces are now launching the deepest invasion of Lebanon in 26 years; But Beirut was mostly spared, the AP reported.

Read also | Israel expands ground operations in Lebanon and deepens invasion

Israel-Hezbollah attacks continue

Beirut’s state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday that an Israeli drone strike hit a car on the road connecting the city of Marjayoun with the city of Nabatiyeh. A drone strike in the village of Jibchit killed two Syrians who were working in a plant nursery, the agency said, while another in the nearby village of Toul killed two people. A third hit hit a car near the village of Harouf, killing one person. The Israeli military said it was not aware of any Israeli strikes in the area. The Lebanese army said two of its soldiers were slightly wounded after a separate drone targeted them on a road outside the city.

The NNA also said an Israeli airstrike killed six people in the southern village of Marwaniyeh on Monday.

The Iran-backed group said Tuesday that its fighters fired anti-tank missiles at Israeli soldiers who were crowding the southern village of Hadatha, about 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the Israeli border. Sirens sounded in several areas in northern Israel, the army said in a statement, adding that a “suspicious aerial target” had been identified in an area where Israeli troops are operating in southern Lebanon, but no injuries were reported.

Trump says Israel and Hezbollah agree to quell fighting

Earlier on Monday (local time), US President Donald Trump said that Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah had agreed to end fighting, adding that he had spoken to both sides and that they had agreed that “all the shooting would end” after Iran signaled that an increase in Israeli military operations in Lebanon could derail efforts to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

After a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communications with Hezbollah, Trump said “no troops will go to Beirut.” However, there was no change, Israel and Hezbollah continued to intensify their attacks.

Read also | Trump blasts Netanyahu as Iran issues chilling warning to Israel

Israel defends against the strike

During a defense conference on Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tel Aviv had earlier refrained from attacking Beirut out of respect for negotiations between Washington and Tehran, which wants a ceasefire deal in the Iran war to end fighting in Lebanon as well.

But Netanyahu informed Trump in a phone call late Monday that Israel would attack the southern suburbs of Beirut if Hezbollah continued to target northern Israel, Katz said.

Further meetings are scheduled for Tuesday

According to reports, a second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators will seek a full ceasefire to prevent future attacks. The talks, which began in April, were the first in more than three decades between the countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties. Hezbollah, which has rejected direct talks, is counting on pressure from Iran.

Fighting in Lebanon hampers progress in US-Iran peace talks

Fighting in Lebanon is a major obstacle to an emerging deal to extend a ceasefire in the Iran war. Despite a Washington-brokered ceasefire reached in April, Israel and Hezbollah continued to exchange blows after Israel attacked areas in Lebanon, saying it was acting in self-defense.

Tehran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said earlier on Monday that the Islamic Republic was suspending talks with Washington, citing Israeli actions in Lebanon. It reads: “Given the continued attacks by the Israeli regime in Lebanon and given that Lebanon was one of the conditions for the ceasefire – which has now been violated on all fronts, including Lebanon – Iran’s negotiating team is suspending ‘intermediary talks and text exchanges.’

Read also | Iran suspends peace talks with US over Israel’s military action in Lebanon

In addition, the Islamic Republic called for an immediate end to Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon, along with the complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Beirut, the agency said, adding that “there will be no negotiations until Iran’s position and resistance on these matters are satisfied.”

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed 3,433 people in Lebanon and displaced more than a million people. At least 27 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor were killed in or near southern Lebanon, according to Netanyahu’s office.

However, it remains to be seen whether there will be any progress on the ground and whether the ceasefire, which is said to exist only on paper, will actually be implemented.

Key things

• The violence in Lebanon has resulted in significant loss of life and displacement, complicating peace efforts.
• Despite claims of negotiations to limit the fighting, both sides continue military operations.
• Iran’s involvement and influence over Hezbollah are key to the ongoing conflict and negotiations.